How to improve chances?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>I really don't expect to get into Yale.
In fact, I think I have less than 0.01% chance of admission.
Of course, I'm not going to reveal this in my application; but I would like some advice on what I could add/should remove from my resume to improve my chances. And um...the usual...what are my chances anyway?</p>

<p>Thanks much.</p>

<p>Some explanations of grades: I was actually in a gifted program that allowed students to take high school courses early. That said, I enrolled in my high school in 5th grade. I matured very late...I only took school seriously following my junior year, when I transferred to an IB school and enrolled in the most difficult courses there. I made straight A's junior year in IB courses and intend to do the same this year. In addition to this strange circumstance, I had very serious family problems (including child abuse--reported to DFS) which led to my parents' divorce after my freshman year. Although I wish not to exonerate myself of my poor behavior in middle school, I believe that these circumstances have affected me negatively in my chances. My counselor is going to write about the "extenuating circumstances" in her recommendation.</p>

<p>I have two strong recommendations; plus, a recommendation from two professors (dual voices, heheh) at UT-Austin for TASP.</p>

<p>Here is my resume</p>

<p>Education Attended Central High School from 1999-2003, 2005-2006
Attended Kickapoo High School from 2004-2005</p>

<p> Class Rank: 56/256
 Unweighted GPA: 3.11
 Weighted GPA: 3.89
 International Baccaleureate Program Diploma Candidate
 ACT
 Composite: 35
 English: 35
 Mathematics: 35
 Reading: 35
 Science: 34
Academic awards and honors<br>
Telluride Association Summer Program Scholarship Winner
Music Teachers National Association Baldwin Piano Competition – 2nd Place
Missouri Music Teachers Association Piano Competition – 1st Place
Ozarks Science and Engineering Fair – 1st Place, Mathematics and Computer Science
Missouri Academy of Science District Competition – 1st Place, Mathematics
Jane Bulger Award for Best Expository Writing (Missouri Academy of Science)
Drury Students in Free Enterprise “The Apprentice” Business Competition – 1st Place, winner of grant
Great Plains Mathematics League Mathematics Competition – 1st Place, Individual
National Merit Commended Student
National Honor Society member</p>

<p>Interests and activities<br>
Art History – 3 to 5 hours a week throughout junior year; 1 to 2 hours a week senior year
 Studied independently under guidance of Mrs. Susan Brown and Missouri State University faculty;
 lectured on the history of Dada and Surrealism to students at the University of Texas-Austin;
 plans to repeat lecture to students in History Club;
 submitted a portfolio to University of Texas-Austin, including essays on the Viennese Secession and Art Nouveau as well as the rise of Constructivism in Russia;
 wrote extended essay on the politics of art with predicted grade of A;
 wrote internal assessment paper on the impact of Robert Mapplethorpe and gay photography on censorship with a predicted grade of 7 (out of 7);
 plans to take the AP Art History test in May.</p>

<p>Piano Performance – at least 15 hours a week throughout the year
 Began at the age of 4;
 studies with Dr. Hye-Jung Hong at Missouri State University;
 participated in and won a number of state-level and national piano competitions;
 performed a concerto at the Central Missouri State University Piano Institute;
 recorded a full-length classical music album;
 performed with a jazz quintet at Drury University;
 participated in Central and Kickapoo jazz bands;
 participates in Central chamber quintet;
 enrolled in MUS 571 at Missouri State University;
 regularly performs at recitals.</p>

<p>Film theory and criticism – at least 10 hours a week, viewing and writing, throughout junior and senior year.
 Co-Founder and Co-President of Foreign Films Society at Central: selects movies to be shown, writes essays for each film viewing, lectured on French New Wave at meeting;
 independently studies history of narrative film, film theory and criticism under guidance of Dr. ____ at Yale University, Dr. ____ at University of Texas-Austin, and Dr. _____ at New York University through e-mail;
 created a portfolio (to be sent to Tisch School of Art in November) containing essays on film theory and technique, as well as a detailed analysis of Hiroshima mon amour.</p>

<p>Theatre (literature and criticism) – 3 to 20 hours a week in the spring of junior year and senior year
 Founder and director of experimental theatre group “The Cenci;”
 translated, revised and performs versions of Akropolis, The Cenci, Faust, and Macbeth at the Radish and the Belmont;
 studied literature with Drs. Kurt and Sue Heinzelman from University of Texas-Austin and Samuel Zeitlin from Balliol College at Oxford University.
 leads experimental theatre discussion at the Well-Fed Head.</p>

<p>Modern music history and production – 2 to 20 hours a week sophomore and junior year
 Founder and principal writer of keroscene music zine from Autumn 2005-Spring 2006;
 contributing writer to Go magazine;
 former contributing writer to Tiny Mix Tapes;
 founder of [abortive] Excommunica Records, producing, recording, and distributing two albums; </p>

<p>Other interests include French symbolist poetry, beat poetry, religious texts, number theory, continental philosophy, calligraphy, and [the study of] graffiti [in culture].</p>

<p>Other activities include/have included Students Taking Action Today, Student Council (Freshman class president), History Club (secretary, 12th grade), History Bowl (varsity team, won 3rd place), Academic Team (captain, highest scorer, winner of intramural decathlon, 10th grade), Gay-Straight Alliance.</p>

<p>Volunteer experience<br>
Cox Hospital - played piano for elderly regularly
Springfield Discovery Center - docent
American Heart Association - helped organize Heart Walk</p>

2

<p>bump, please</p>

3

<p>I think your ECs and scores can make up for poor grades.</p>

4

<p>um i think you have a really good chance.. im basically screwed compared to you</p>

5

<p>Umm...my GPA is still very, very low. I mean, I've failed classes...and although I've retaken them, I have C's and a D...BLAH.</p>

6

<p>well you did have a unique schooling...i'm not really sure how honor or IB schools compare to public schools, so i wouldnt be able to say anything about grades for you. but you seem like an interesting person with a passion. im not sure how you will fit those things onto an app though...you should focus on putting it altogether into the app and the essays in a way that is interesting and true....i know that sounds like such bs but i am in the same boat as you--i am really struggling to put it all together. my situation is kind of the opposite--ive gotten really good grades, and i have some leadership, but ive gotten few awards and unlike you i dont think my passion really is represented by what i have done. also, like you it seems, i have a lot of things that are in the process right now...which is hard when we are EA...this is all very stressful. i know. what really bothers me about EA is you have 2 very different outcomes depending on which way the decision goes. you either get in, and are basically done with it all, or you don't get in, or get deferred, and you have to wait 5 more months for your next set of decisoins. it really a weird situation</p>

7

<p>what did you say you were applying for?</p>

8

<p>umm...regular admission?</p>

9

<p>haha oops thinking of another thread...well thats my imput anyway..i guess it doesnt help you</p>

10

<p>It's too late now to do anything that would significantly improve your chances, given that it's senior year.
That said, I think you have a good shot.
Also, I'm a WashU TASPer (aka the Hottest TASP of all time;)).</p>

11

<p>I think you have a pretty good chance. It's your essay and EC combined that will allow you to make it. Your thesis and criticism on movies and such is impressive. I might even take that up.</p>

12

<p>You have wonderful ECs, but I think your GPA sinks your admissions ship. I know others on CC will have anecdotal evidence of people with even lower GPAs getting in, but the lowest GPA I've seen for admittees is a 3.6 unweighted and that was for nationally ranked athletes.</p>

13

<p>I would say that they would probably examine your grades on a year to yer basis in this case. Like if its an upward trend, downward, etc. Other then that, great EC's! I've seen very few people here on CC with as much passion as you do in your subject/s.</p>

14

<p>well, it depends on how you show your maturity and your literary strengths...how old are you? Top colleges want people who become influential later in their lives, and if you can show them that you have potential, you should have a decent chance</p>

15

<p>"how i show my maturity and my literary strenghts"...i don't quite understand.</p>

16

<p>Hey wang, film criticism and theory is really cool. I just finished my review of Ozu's Tokyo Story and with a critical essay on its camera work. I am next going to start my review on Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. Also, I just finished reading "The American Cinema: Directors and Directions" by Andrew Sarris.</p>

<p>Just wondering. Since I have a hard drive full of my ideas and essays, is there a way for me to do something with it? Feel free to PM me or whatever...</p>

<p>Yale is extremely good for film, but with your experience, I would definitely recommend Columbia. It is THE best institution for film theory and criticism, bar-none. Tisch I heard is much more practical and involved in production. USC is another good choice for production. Yale is in between there somewhere.</p>

<p>Your GPA is the only thing keeping you down. But your rank is not as horrid as ur GPA makes it seem. Just apply and good luck. I really hope you get in :)</p>

17

<p>btw, what are your favorite films?</p>

18

<p>Hey dude, this is sweet...I'm definitely not going directly into film, so I don't know about Columbia...the likelihood of me participating in the creation of a film is even unlikelier. I'm only interested in STUDYING film...as part of the holistic view of art--which includes art history, music, and especially literature (i'm interested in literary criticism the most, i'll probably major in comp lit)</p>

<p>Here's a list I included as part of the Deep Springs application.</p>

<p>Sorry, I'd love to talk to you more, but I'm in the middle of an IB HL math portfolio due on Friday. I'll talk to you later. Favorite films list at the bottom.</p>

<ol>
<li>Allen, Woody – Broadway Danny Rose</li>
<li>Antonioni, Michelangelo – L’Avventura</li>
<li>Antonioni, Michelangelo – L’Eclisse</li>
<li>Antonioni, Michelangelo – La Notte</li>
<li>Antonioni, Michelangelo – The Passenger</li>
<li>Baker, Roy – A Night To Remember</li>
<li>Becker, Jacques – Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands Off The Loot)</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – Autumn Sonata</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – Cries and Whispers</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – Fanny & Alexander</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – The Passion of Anna</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – Scenes From A Marriage</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – The Seventh Seal</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – Through A Glass Darkly</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – The Virgin Spring</li>
<li>Bergman, Ingmar – Wild Strawberries</li>
<li>Bresson, André – Un Condamné a mort s’est échappé (A Man Escaped)</li>
<li>Bresson, André – Le Journal d’un cure de campagne (The Diary of a Country Priest)</li>
<li>Bunuel, Luis – Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie</li>
<li>Camus, Marcel – Orphée Negre (Black Orpheus)</li>
<li>Carné, Marcel – Children of Paradise</li>
<li>Cassavetes, John – Faces</li>
<li>Cassavetes, John – The Killing of a Chinese Bookie</li>
<li>Cassaetes, John – Opening Night</li>
<li>Cassavetes, John – Shadows</li>
<li>Cassavetes, John – A Woman Under the Influence</li>
<li>Cocteau, Jean – Orphic Trilogy
I. Blood of a Poet
II. Orphée
III. Testament of Orpheus</li>
<li>Cronenberg, David – The Fly</li>
<li>Cronenberg, David – Naked Lunch</li>
<li>Dreyer, Carl Théodor – Day of Wrath</li>
<li>Dreyer, Carl Théodor - Gertrud</li>
<li>Dreyer, Carl Théodor – La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc</li>
<li>Dreyer, Carl Théodor – Ordet</li>
<li>Eisenstein, Sergei – Battleship Potemkin</li>
<li>Eisenstein, Sergei – Ivan the Terrible: Pt. I</li>
<li>Eisenstein, Sergei – Ivan the Terrible: Pt. II</li>
<li>Fellini, Federico – 8½</li>
<li>Fellini, Federico – Amarcord</li>
<li>Fellini, Federico – La Dolce Vita</li>
<li>Fenwick, Peg – All That Heaven Allows</li>
<li>Forman, Milos – Amadeus</li>
<li>Gilliam, Terry – Brazil</li>
<li>Godard, Jean-Luc – À bout de souffle (Breathless)</li>
<li>Godard, Jean-Luc – Bande à part (Band of Outsiders)</li>
<li>Godard, Jean-Luc – Pierrot le Fou</li>
<li>Haneke, Michael – The Piano Teacher</li>
<li>Haneke, Michael – The Seventh Continent</li>
<li>Herzog, Werner – Aguirre, Der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre, The Wrath of God)</li>
<li>Inagaki, Hiroshi – The Samurai Trilogy
I. Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
II. Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
III. Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island</li>
<li>Jarmusch, Jim – Stranger Than Paradise</li>
<li>Kieslowski, Krzysztof – The Decalogue
I. Decalogue I
II. Decalogue II
III. Decalogue II
IV. Decalogue IV
V. Decalogue V
VI. Decalogue VI
VII. Decalogue VII
VIII. Decalogue VIII
IX. Decalogue IX
X. Decalogue X</li>
<li>Kieslowski, Krzystof – Trois Couleurs Trilogy
I. Bleu
II. Blanc
III. Rouge</li>
<li>Kopple, Barbara – Harlan County, USA</li>
<li>Kubrick, Stanley – 2001: A Space Odyssey</li>
<li>Kubrick, Stanley – A Clockwork Orange</li>
<li>Kurosawa, Akira – Dreams</li>
<li>Kurosawa, Akira – The Hidden Fortress</li>
<li>Kurosawa, Akira – High and Low (Heaven and Hell)</li>
<li>Kurosawa, Akira – Seven Samurai</li>
<li>Lean, David – Great Expectations</li>
<li>Lee, Spike – Do The Right Thing</li>
<li>Lynch, David – Eraserhead</li>
<li>Malle, Louis – Elevator to the Gallows</li>
<li>Melville, Jean-Pierre – Le Cercle Rouge</li>
<li>Murnau, F.W. – Faust</li>
<li>Okamoto, Kihachi – The Sword of Doom</li>
<li>Olivier, Laurence – Henry V</li>
<li>Ozu, Yasujiro – Early Summer</li>
<li>Pasolini, Pier Paolo – Mamma Roma</li>
<li>Pasolini, Pier Paolo – Porcile</li>
<li>Penn, Arthur – Bonnie & Clyde</li>
<li>Polanski, Roman – Chinatown</li>
<li>Polanski, Roman – Knife in the Water</li>
<li>Pontecorvo, Gilles – La bataille d’Algers</li>
<li>Powell, Michael and Pressburger, Emeric – The Red Shoes</li>
<li>Reed, Carol – The Third Man</li>
<li>Resnais, Alain – L’Année derniere a Marienbad</li>
<li>Resnais, Alain – Hiroshima Mon Amour</li>
<li>Resnais, Alain – Je t’aime, Je t’aime</li>
<li>Resnais, Alain – Nuit et Brouillard (Night and Fog)</li>
<li>Roemer, Michael – Nothing But A Man</li>
<li>Roemer, Michael – The Plot Against Harry</li>
<li>Rosi, Francesco – Salvatore Giuliano</li>
<li>Schlesinger, John – Midnight Cowboy</li>
<li>Schneider, Alan – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf</li>
<li>Schroeder, Barbet – General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait</li>
<li>Truffaut, Francois – Jules et Jim</li>
<li>Truffaut, Francois – Les Quatre Cent Coups (The 400 Blows)</li>
<li>Welles, Orson – Citizen Kane</li>
<li>Welles, Orson – Touch of Evil</li>
<li>Wilder, Billy – Sunset Boulevard</li>
</ol>

<p>My Favorite Books (in no order)
1.Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Brothers Karamazov
2. Thomas Hardy – Jude the Obscure
3. Comte de Lautréamont – Maldodor
4. Jorge Luis Borges – Ficciones
5. Isabelle Allende – The House of the Spirits
6. Saul Bellow – Seize the Day
7. Saul Bellow – The Adventures of Augie March
8. James Joyce – A Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man
9. A Void</p>

<p>Favorite Films (in no order)
1. Decalogue 1
2. Amadeus
3. The 400 Blows
4. Hiroshima Mon Amour
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Brazil
7. Pierrot le Fou
8. Rouge</p>

19

<p>Wow really impressive. Uh Deep Springs application? Dekalog is an amazing film(s). I especially liked the one with the father basing the ice conditions on the computer. Wow what an analogy. </p>

<p>Just for kicks and out of boredom I'll add my "top ten". This is my second list posted on CC. I've changed it around a bit.</p>

<p>I would like to think that these are in some kind of defined order of preference.</p>

<ol>
<li>2001: A Space Odyssey - Kubrick</li>
<li>Citizen Kane - Welles</li>
<li>Apocalypse Now - Coppola</li>
<li>Pulp Fiction - Tarantino</li>
<li>The Godfather Saga - Coppola</li>
<li>Raging Bull - Scorsese</li>
<li>Rashomon - Kurosawa</li>
<li>Easy Rider - Hopper</li>
<li>A Clockwork Orange - Kubrick </li>
<li>Requiem For A Dream - Aronofsky</li>
</ol>

<p>Some other faves are Tokyo Story, Blade Runner, Goodfellas, One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest, Ran, Floating Weeds, Jarhead, Brokeback Mountain, City Lights, House of Sand and Fog, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut, Ikiru, Yojimbo, The Seven Samurai, Singin' In The Rain, and Bicycle Thieves</p>

<p>I can see ur a European film/French New Wave kinda guy. I recommed you definitely see some modern Americans. Scorsese, Coppola, and Kubrick are all excellent.</p>